Study Results from Carnegie Mellon University in the Area of Environmental Science and Technology Published

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Ecology, Environment & Conservation -- Investigators publish new report on Environmental Science and Technology. According to news reporting from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "Carbon capture and storage is a promising strategy for mitigating the CO2 contribution to global climate change. The large scale implementation of the technology mandates better understanding of the risks associated with CO2 injection into geologic formations and the subsequent interactions with groundwater resources."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Carnegie Mellon University, "The injected supercritical CO2 (sc-CO2) is a nonpolar solvent that can potentially mobilize organic compounds that exist at residual saturation in the formation. Here, we review the partitioning behavior of selected organic compounds typically found in depleted oil reservoirs in the residual oil-brine-sc-CO2 system under carbon storage conditions. The solubility of pure phase organic compounds in sc-CO2, and partitioning of organic compounds between water and sc-CO2 follow trends predicted based on thermodynamics. Compounds with high volatility and low aqueous solubility have the highest potential to partition to sc-CO2. The partitioning of low volatility compounds to sc-CO2 can be enhanced by cosolvency due to the presence of higher volatility compounds in the sc-CO2. The effect of temperature, pressure, salinity, pH, and dissolution of water molecules into sc-CO2 on the partitioning behavior of organic compounds in the residual oil-brine-sc-CO2 system is discussed. Data gaps and research needs for models to predict the partitioning of organic compounds in brines and from complex mixtures of oils are presented."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "Models need to be able to better incorporate the effect of salinity and cosolvency, which will require more experimental data from key classes of organic compounds."

For more information on this research see: Partitioning Behavior of Organic Contaminants in Carbon Storage Environments: A Critical Review. Environmental Science & Technology, 2013;47(1):37-54. Environmental Science & Technology can be contacted at: Amer Chemical Soc, 1155 16TH St, NW, Washington, DC 20036, USA. (American Chemical Society - www.acs.org; Environmental Science & Technology - www.pubs.acs.org/journal/esthag)

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting A. Burant, Carnegie Mellon University, Dept. of Civil & Environm Engn, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, United States.

Keywords for this news article include: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America, Environmental Science and Technology

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